The Home Front
by FauxPassGG
Summary: On the front lines of a devastating war, Foxy and Spring trap (Steve) are fighting for their lives. The truth lingers over their heads like the airplanes that steak through the sky: They might not make it home. (Technically a one-shot... for now. No shipping...yet. Check the author's note at the end for clarification.) Rated T for swearing and kind of gruesome scenes.
1. Chapter 1

Shouts pierced the darkness, almost like the bullets that flew by. Smoke was drifting up into the sky, dissipating as planes flew through the clouds. On the ground below, dark figures ran across an open field, jumping into trenches and pausing occasionally to fire their guns, the crack of the shot almost defened by the explosions that occurred around the figures.

On the ground, one figure ran for his life towards the nearest trench. The figure was a dark green rabbit, holding a rifle in his hands, a canteen clanking at his side as he ran. An explosion from his right made him instinctively duck and grab his helmet with one hand. Leaping, the figure landed in a trench, sitting against the back. Other soldiers ran around him, shouting and shooting, while others were cut down as they tried to reach the safety of the trench. With every scream the rabbit felt his heart beat faster. Another soldier hopped into the trench, landing on his right.

"Quite a show, eh lad?" remarked the other soldier, a dark red fox. The rabbit stared at his friend, shaking his head. "Foxy, I'll never understand how you can find humor at a time like this," he remarked, getting up to shoot. "Keep yer damn head down Steve! We got a damn sniper on us!" Foxy shouted, yanking him back down into the trench as a bullet flew past the place where Steve's head was. Steve scowled, aiming at the bunker the shot had come from. Suddenly, the bunker was torn apart, exploding into a cascade of fiery red, yellow, and orange. A tank was nearby, methodically taking out the bunkers that were littered along the enemy trench line. "Shit, man. Sniper's gone," a human soldier remarked.

Steve's ears suddenly detected a whistling noise, like an angry bee, and his eyes widened. "Shit! Incoming!" Before anyone could react, an artillery shell slammed into the trench. The close proximity of the explosion caused Steve to temporarily lose hearing. In hindsight, it was probably a good thing as the screams from the other soldiers was not something he wanted to hear. Steve tried to get up, but his vision was blurry. "Foxy! H-Help!" Steve exclaimed weakly. In his blurry vision, Steve saw Foxy come towards him. "Shit, shit, shit!" The fox swore. As Steve's vision cleared a little, he screamed.

The shell had hit closer to Foxy, and as a result, the fox now had a piece of shrapnel lodged in his shoulder and another large piece in his eye. "Fuck!" The fox swore as he coughed up blood. "Oh my god… oh my god," Steve whimpered. "Steve! Stay with me! We're going to get out of this shit, ye hear?" Was the last thing Steve heard before he passed out from the shock.

Foxy shook Steve, but to no response. The fox suddenly whirled as he heard footsteps behind him. "Thank god!" he exclaimed as he saw the company medic run through the trench. "Afton! Over here!" Hearing Foxy's desperate shouts, Michael Afton, the company medic, ran towards the voice before stopping short. "Foxy, holy shit! You're eye!" The fox shook his head. "T' hell with my eye! Steve's hurt!" Michael bit his lip. Knowing that Foxy would refuse treatment, Michael knelt near the fallen rabbit. "Crap, I don't have the supplies to treat this!" As Michael gently picked up Steve, he muttered to himself, noting the multiple pieces of shrapnel embedded in his fur, with an abundant of cuts and blood.

Another figure stumbled through the smoke, a dog. "Dude! You're eye-" he started before Foxy interrupted him. "Yeah, ah fucking noticed!" Michael shouted to the two over the explosions. "I need to get him back, behind the lines! Both of you need to get airlifted the hell out of here. Foxy shook his head. "Ah'd never make it," he said as he pointed to shrapnel pieces in his leg. Foxy turned to the dog, biting his muzzle. "Go with him, get Steve out of here!" The dog hesitated. "I can't just leave you here, man!" Foxy shoved the dog backwards and grabbed his rifle. "Go!" He hissed.

Michael glanced at the dog. "There's no time. We don't have time to persuade him to come." The dog sighed. "Take care… please." Foxy nodded, raising his rifle over the trench and firing. Michael used a crate as a boost to get out of the trench while holding Steve in his arms, the dog soldier right behind him. The two ran towards the rear lines, trying to ignore the screams and cries for a medic from their wounded brothers.

As the two ran for their lives, Foxy was having complications. "They're gonna over run this line… Gotta move…." The fox pulled himself to his feet and limped along the right side of the trench, hoping to find an ally. Suddenly, movement caught the fox's eye. A wave of enemies were surging forward. "Shit! Counterattack!" The fox cursed. Turning, he tried to judge the distance between him and the next trench before giving up. "So… this is how ah die, eh?" Foxy muttered, spitting blood on the ground. "Then so be it." Raising his rifle, he pulled the trigger. Again. And again. And again.

"Finally!" Michael shouted as he neared a group of soldiers. Two medics ran up to him, eyes wide as they saw the battered and limp body of Steve. "Shit, that's not good." One of the medics muttered. The other nodded, looking behind him. "Sarge, call a chopper! We got to airlift him out." Slowly, the two medics and Michae lowered Steve onto a stretcher, near other bodies waiting to be lifted out. "Damn… we made it!" Michael exclaimed as he turned, only to find the dog he was with was no longer behind him. "Did he… oh shit…" Michael muttered as his eyes failed to find the dog. "Foxy, crap... " Michael muttered again. Michael began running to the battlefield again only for a soldier to pull him back. "You can't go back out there! We're bombing the field!" He shouted. Michael's eyes widened as he saw their men running away as a flock of planes approached. Michael turned away, tears in his eyes, as the enemy's counterattack was cut down by machine gun fire and bombs.

As Steve lay on the stretcher, he suddenly woke up. "Foxy! Foxy! Michael!" He began screaming. "It hurts! Oh shit! It hurts!" The bloody rabbit screamed as a medic ran towards him, a needle in his hand. Injecting the needle into the rabbit's arm, the medic smiled at him. "Don't worry, we'll get you out of here. We'll save you…" As the drug kicked in and Steve calmed down, the last thing he saw was an airplane far above him exploding as it made contact with an artillery shell, blowing into shades as red as the blood of the pilot.


	2. Chapter 2

_**The shots, the screams, the death**_ _**The lives that will never be lived again**_ _**I remember them.**_ _**The friends that I'll never see again**_ _**The hopes I'll never chase again**_ _**The dreams that died by empty shots**_ _**I remember them.**_

 _ **We fought our battles, we won our wars**_ _**We fought through hell, then back again**_ _**We took their lives to save our own**_ _**But that was yesterday.**_

 _ **Our hardest battles have yet to be fought**_ _**Our hardest wars have not been won**_ _**There's a longer fight in store for us**_ _**The one that takes place on the home front**_

 _ **We keep on fighting, that's our job**_ _**But when we stop, who are we then?**_ _**Our old wounds will open up again**_ _**And bleed with new blood we never knew we had**_ _**We used to be soldiers, who kept on fighting**_ _**But that was yesterday.**_

 _ **I remember them.**_ _**Do they remember me?**_

 _ **-\**_

 **xX The Home Front Xx**

 **2 months later**

" _And with the brilliant leadership of General Brown, victory seems closer than it ever has before!"_

The newscaster bellowed his line, broadcasted across the ancient television set mounted on the wall of the cafe. Steve rolled his eyes as he sat alone in a booth at the diner. The injuries and horrors he had seen during the war hadn't left him, while his friends had. Steve sighed as he stirred his coffee. That day on the battlefield was the last day he had seen Foxy and Michael , he had woken up in a hospital, covered with scars and pain. Steve sighed as he downed his coffee. His eyes flicked up to the television for a moment before rolling his eyes. Things had only gotten worse after the war. He was unable to find a steady job and now he was about to be evicted from his apartment. Steve payed no attention to the news anchor. He knew that General Brown was an idiot, and he also knew the war wasn't ending any time soon. Steve stood outside the cafe, sighing as he stared down the street, remembering a day before the war…

 **(this symbol means flashback)**

"Well, this is it!" Steve smiled as he adjusted his uniform. It was their last day before deployment, and the past week had been a blast. To his left was his good friend Sam, a black bear. Foxy was on his right, also dressed in his uniform. "Come on lad, we're gonna miss th' boat," Foxy said impatiently. Steve laughed at his friend's remark. "He's got a point," Sam stated neutrally. He had decided to not enlist and hope he wouldn't get drafted. "Well, good luck," Sam said plainly. "Hey, if you ever need a place, or a friend… just call me."

Sam shut the door as he left the bank. He had spent the past few weeks working on a mural for the bank, depicting the scenery and history of the city of Chipperdale. He stopped at a newsstand to check the headlines. Nothing new, just everyone going crazy over the war. Sam rolled his eyes. In his opinion the whole thing was stupid. He didn't even know what they were fighting about, but they were always fighting. The whole country was going nuts over this. In his opinion, it was just a waste of good men. As Sam walked down the street, he heard somebody shout his name.

Turning, he saw Steve running towards him. "Sam! Hey, how are you?" Sam gave a wary smile. "Hey Steve! I didn't know you were back." Steve sighed. "I'm not fully back… none of us war vets really ever are."

"What do you mean by that?"  
"Nevermind. Listen, do you think I could stay with you awhile? My landlord's kicking me out soon."

"Um… yeah, I think I could clear a space. Where's Foxy?"

Steve sighed and shook his head sadly. "I… don't know. I got airlifted out after I got hit by a shell… messed me up pretty badly. I haven't seen Foxy ever since the hospital released me." sam gave him a sympathetic look. "I hope he's okay." Steve nodded. "Me too." Sam sighed and checked the time on his watch. "We should catch up, let's head to my place."

A bit later, Steve was sitting on Sam's couch. "Yeah, I got messed pretty badly… Michael Afton, our medic, helped take me to safety. Sam sipped some tea from his cup. "Afton… isn't his father that one super rich CEO guy? He runs… Afton Entertainment or something?" Steve shrugged. "Yeah, I think so." Sam frowned. "He's opening a restaurant here…Might be a good place to work. I hear they have a crazy contract you have to sign though. Anyways, that was the last time you saw Foxy?" Steve sighed and nodded. "Yeah… He was pretty messed up. Took shrapnel to the eye I think. Really hope he made it out…" Steve picked up a newspaper, browsing the jobs section before giving up and tossing the paper onto the coffee table.

"Damn, no openings. Figures… no one would want to hire a lonely veteran like me."

 **A/n: I did it! Sorry for the delay, but I hit writer's block in planning the stor. I got over it and finally finished planning, so here's the first chapter! This story is set in the same universe as When December Comes and is set several months before. If you haven't read it, you can still understand this story perfectly fine.**

 **If you have any feedback, make sure to leave a review! Thanks!**


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